The reason is very simple. The enemy's main target at this time is Yingjiang. Therefore, Yingjiang's actions to reinforce the Eighth Route Army are no longer a battle against the Eighth Route Army in their eyes, but a battle against Yingjiang...
Just like what Okamura Neiji analyzed in his report: "At this time, when Taika chose to reinforce the Eighth Route Army, there must be some conspiracy. If we can't smash the enemy's conspiracy with thunderous momentum in the early stage, it will be a big trouble in the future!
"
Okamura Neiji has been in China for a long time, and he will add a few Chinese idioms to his reports from time to time. The communication soldiers who receive his telegrams need to have their staff translate them again.
However, this does not seem to be difficult. Those with a little education among the Japanese are all familiar with Chinese idioms.
Tokyo agrees with Okamura Neji's judgment.
But at this time, the Japanese's various types of fighter planes were very nervous. Not to mention that the attack in Southeast Asia required a large number of fighter planes, and Yingjiang could not relax on the front.
Some people even suspect that this is Yingjiang's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain, with the purpose of distracting the strength of the Imperial Air Force on the Pacific battlefield.
Therefore, Tokyo thought twice and did not transfer the advanced "Zero" fighter jets to Okamura Neiji. Instead, it transferred the Type 96 carrier-based fighter jets used to deal with stubborn armies on the frontal battlefield to North China, and paired them with
Type 93 and Type 97 bombers.
Okamura Neiji was not satisfied with this, because he believed that the enemy was using Hawker 81 fighter jets. If he wanted to quickly annihilate the enemy, he must have an overwhelming advantage in the number and performance of the fighter jets. However, the Type 96 ship-to-ship battle has become slightly more obvious.
Lagging behind, although the performance is not necessarily worse than the Hawk 81, and it still has a numerical advantage, it does not have an overwhelming advantage.
But after thinking about it for a while, Okamura Neji still accepted it.
Because he believes that bombers are more important now than fighter jets... Bombers can destroy enemy airport facilities and even blow up enemy fighter jets on the airport, which is much more efficient than shooting down one by one in an air battle.
So Okamura Neiji did not object, but made a request: "I hope to get as many bomber reinforcements as possible!"
Tokyo met Okamura Neiji's request. In addition to deploying a bomber fleet with a total of 36 bombers, it also dispatched two additional squadrons of reconnaissance aircraft composed of 98 light explosions... 98 light explosions can also carry small aerial bombs.
It is used by bombers, and because it can dive bomb and has a long endurance, it also has advantages in blowing up enemy fighters and airport facilities. Simply put, although its bombs are small in power, they can carry out precise strikes.
The information was soon transferred from intelligence personnel to the Eighth Route Army... This was also due to what Li Yunlong said before about using intelligence personnel to improve the airport's early warning time.
Intelligence agents were stationed near the airport, so the Japanese plane movements were under their control.
This is actually not difficult. You only need to place one or two intelligence officers in each direction of the airport, and then register in detail the number and model of fighters flying in and out from that direction.
Finally, this information is summarized and calculated against the date, and you will know how many planes are flying into or out of this airport.
Today Wang Xuexin is training with the pilots.
A big problem in training is that there is no trainer aircraft... The trainer aircraft may not seem important, but it is indispensable for the training of pilots.
The reason is that airplanes are very valuable, and it is impossible to let pilots who can’t fly yet master some theoretical knowledge and then climb into the airplane for a test drive. The result will basically be a crash and death.
On the other hand, it is impossible to always let pilots learn theoretical knowledge on the ground.
Driving this thing requires practical operation. No matter how much theoretical knowledge is taught, even if you memorize it thoroughly and remember the instrument control levers, etc. clearly, when you actually drive, you will find that you are in a hurry and have no clue at all.
The trainer aircraft can play a transitional role.
Usually from junior trainer to intermediate to advanced, and then to fighter jet.
(Note: During World War II, advanced training aircraft were often retired due to backwardness. For example, the Type 96 carrier-based fighter in the hands of Okamura Neji at this time was retired to the Chinese battlefield and returned to China to serve as a fighter jet at the end of 1942 because of the Zero equipment.
trainer aircraft)
But the Eighth Route Army did not have any training aircraft.
Fortunately, most of the pilots recruited by the Eighth Route Army have flying experience. Although they are all backward models like the "Gaodron", the flight time is not short. Coupled with the guidance of the Eagle Sauce pilots, they can fly directly to the Hawker 81
Not a big problem.
The difficulty lies in the fact that among the pilots there are a small number of foreign students who are not "skilled"... This is the first batch recruited by the headquarters. Some of these foreign students just enjoy flying as a hobby abroad and have flown gliders and small civilian aircraft.
, and even a few have only driven in the passenger seat.
Fortunately, there were not many of them, only about twenty. Major Doug assigned them to another class to teach them basic theoretical knowledge, and they were only used as backup pilots.
As for the others, Major Doug began to have a headache because of the lack of training aircraft.
He even complained to Wang Xuexin: "Wang, you should ask them (Yingjiang) to send a few training planes!"
But Wang Xuexin still had an idea: "Can we use wooden stakes to simulate driving?"
This method may not have been used by Yingjiang, because Yingjiang is rich and has no shortage of trainer aircraft. They can start flying from a simple primary trainer aircraft. At the same time, Yingjiang has a large pilot base and a considerable number of pilots can fly before joining the army.
, using wooden stakes to simulate driving is like a child playing house to them.
But this is not the case for Chinese pilots.
Major Doug thought for a while, then nodded and said, "What a good idea. At least this will make them familiar with the positions of the instruments and joysticks!"
It's a bit like learning to drive...
Driving is still low-risk and allows for a certain amount of time to make mistakes. If you make a slight mistake while flying in the sky, there will be no second chance if you are not careful. Therefore, you need to practice all kinds of operations on the ground like an arm.
Although this is still different from actual operation, it is still feasible for experienced pilots to use this method to transition.
"In addition!" Wang Xuexin added: "We also have two Japanese Type 99 transport aircraft. Can they be used as training aircraft?"
Li Yueying shook her head and said: "That may not be appropriate. Although transport aircraft are indeed easier to fly, their instruments and control sticks are very different from Hawker 81. Once you get used to driving this kind of transport aircraft, it will be very difficult.
It’s hard to adapt to Hawk 81!”
Wang Xuexin thought about it and thought it was the same. If you normally drive an automatic transmission, you can't drive a manual transmission, let alone an airplane from a different country.